The Trick to Life
by TheGrassIsGreener
Summary: 10 years ago they were taken away from the dangers of the First Wizarding War by their mothers, but it seems the Wizarding world isn't done with them yet... Ash Ketchum, Serena Spencer and Gary Oak are sent to Hogwarts at the age of eleven, but with the added pressure of keeping their Pokémon a secret from the rest of the school, how long will it be until they are found out?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello there! This is my first cross over story, so I hope you enjoy it... I've been wanting to write this story for a while now, but a lot's been going on, including a lot of writing for my own book series. Either way, I'm finally writing it and I really hope you like it! I've seen this sort of story done before, but I think I've put a pretty interesting twist on it, so please let me know what you think. I've just started my summer holiday from college, so I'll have plenty of time to update too! Please read and review, all constructive criticism welcome if you have any :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Harry Potter... wish I did though, but then who doesn't?**

* * *

On the 14th August, 1981, the Death Eaters known as Rodolphus Lestrange, Caiden Gibbon and Marsha Wilkes forged an attack on a small muggle family in Doncaster City, but were mercifully stopped in their tracks by three Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. They weren't well known Aurors, or particularly powerful ones either, but their determination to protect those who couldn't protect themselves was, to these men, the most important thing. They had families of their own, lives to protect, to see flourish, and unlike even other Wizards and Witches, more than one world to keep hidden. This was simply because, these three Aurors were more than just Wizards. They also happened to belong to yet another magical world, one filled with the most amazing creatures the mind could imagine. Creatures called Pokémon. If someone as evil and horribly twisted as Voldemort ever discovered them, chaos would surely reign. The Pokémon world was blissfully peaceful, and they intended to keep it that way.

These were the thoughts going through the heads of Red Ketchum, Anthony Spencer and Daniel Oak as they instigated a duel with the three Death Eaters, giving the muggles a chance to escape, where a group of Obliviators would be waiting for them. These were the thoughts going through their heads when one of the Death Eaters, Gibbon, they thought, went down with a scream of agony and the remaining two upped their anti. These were the thoughts going through their heads when, around them, more Death Eaters apparated and joined the duel. And these were the thoughts going through their heads when, almost simultaneously, the three Aurors were each hit by a jet of green light, and their bodies dropped to the ground, never to move again.

* * *

10 years later...

The sun shone down harshly on the two young trainers as they walked side by side through Viridian Forest, on their way back home to Pallet Town. They had received a rather cryptic phone call from their mothers at the Pokémon Centre in Vermillion City, asking them to come home as soon as they could. Neither Delia nor Grace seemed very happy during the phone call, so the two young friends, too concerned to carry on any further with their journey, turned around immediately and began the long trek back home.

Ash Ketchum and Serena Spencer walked under the shade of the trees, trying to keep out of the overbearing heat that sent most of the wild Pokémon in the area scuttling into the cool bushes or cold ponds. They only passed by the occasional Caterpie or Pidgey, all sleeping in the shade. Ash wiped his forehead with his arm and huffed.

"Why are they calling us back anyway?" he asked moodily. For the fifth time since that morning. And the twentieth time since they had made it to Viridian Forest. Serena's eyebrow twitched with irritation.

"I don't know, Ash. Just like I didn't know at the Pokémon Centre, or at Cerulean City, or yesterday when we reached the Forest." The heat, it seemed, was getting to both of them. To be fair, what seemed to have dampened Ash's mood the most was him and Misty screaming each other (again) when he had asked her, for what seemed like the millionth time, "hey Misty, why do you think they want us to go back?"

Serena certainly sympathised with her red headed friend, but couldn't help begrudge her slightly as she wandered back home with a moody, bad tempered Ash for her only human company. Misty herself had decided to stay in Cerulean City, insisting that whatever was happening didn't invoke her. Brock too had left them at Pewter City, "a good chance to check up on how my dad's doing", he had said. At least she had their Pokémon, but only the two Pikachus would walk with them in this heat. Ash's Pikachu was a given, he never went in his Pokéball anyway (and never had been in it, if she remembered correctly), but her own Pikachu, aptly named Pikahontas after the electric mouses' almost lifelong obsession with the Disney movie, had let herself out of her Pokéball the previous night, deciding that both her beloved trainer and fellow Pikachu had suffered Ash's mood alone for long enough. Not even her Charmander, who thrived in the heat, wanted to walk around with them at the moment. Her Eevee, Kristoff, was also resolutely hiding from the heat, and hadn't even stayed out of his Pokéball for longer than it took him to eat and drink the night before.

The black haired boy had gone silent again, and Serena started to feel bad for snapping at him and was going to say something, before two loud "PIKA! PIKA PI!"s snapped her out of her thoughts. The two Pikachus were running excitedly up to their trainers, and when Serena looked up she could see why. They were almost out of Viridian Forest. It took everything she had in her not to shout with relief. It had only taken them a day to walk through. That must have been some sort of record.

She looked to her travelling companion and was glad to see that he seemed to have perked up a little.

"It'll be nice to be back again, won't it?" she asked him, hoping to see him smile again before they got home. She didn't want him to get snappy around his mother, especially when they had no idea what was going on.

Ash turned to her. "It will I guess, it just kinda sucks that we only got as far as Vermillion, I never even made it to the Pokémon League!" His Pikachu ran up and jumped onto his shoulder, nuzzling the side of his neck in an attempt to offer some comfort.

Not wanting him to go all melancholy again when he was only just starting to cheer up, she quickly intersected.

"But won't it be nice to see everybody again? It's been so long since we've seen our moms and I don't know about you, but I've missed actually sleeping in a bed," she laughed. Her spirits lifted when Ash cracked a smile.

"It will be nice to see my mom again... plus she's the best cook I know! I can't wait to eat some of her cooking again!" With this, a wide grin spread across his face and he took off running, Pikachu clinging to his shoulder. "Come on Serena!" he shouted back to her, and a fond, if not slightly exasperated smile took over her face. She shared a look with Pikahontas.

"Well, you heard the man Pika, let's go."

* * *

Walking down the dust road that led to their houses, the two found themselves considerably happier than they had been for the last month or so.

"D'you think she'll have any muffins? Her muffins are the best... Maybe they'll be chocolate chip! Oh god I miss her chocolate chip muffins..." Ash had quickly switched from complaining every five seconds about having to go home, to talking non-stop about all the food he wanted to eat when he did get home, and Serena really didn't know how to feel about it. Now he was certainly a lot happier, but she didn't know if she was. Even Pikachu was becoming slightly exasperated with the constant talk of food, and that was saying something. It seemed the little Pokémon was becoming somewhat disenchanted with the idea of a whole bottle of ketchup to himself with every step they took, but they were finally nearing the front gate to Ash's house.

Pikahontas walked happily in front of all of them, most likely to avoid listening to Ash list off the thirty different ways he liked his mom's eggs in a morning- again. Serena smiled at her small friend. Pikahontas was her first real Pokémon, they had been together for about three years now, if she remembered rightly. Of course, when they met, she had been a Pichu, but her evolution to Pikachu had been pretty quick. It all seemed like a lifetime ago now...

"ASH? SERENA!" A loud shout broke her from her thoughts, and she tore her gaze away from her Pikachu, to see her mother, Grace, and Ash's mother Delia, standing in the doorway to the Ketchum house, both looking surprised and very grim. Her high spirits evaporated before they'd even walked through the front gate.

* * *

All gathered around the table in the Ketchum's dining room, and having just eaten their fill of pancakes and toast, Ash and Serena exchanged concerned glances. What on _Earth_ was going on?

All of their Pokémon had been let out of their Pokéballs and were currently relaxing in the back garden, except for Pikachu, who remained with them, licking on the prophesied bottle of ketchup.

Their mothers said nothing for several moments, shifting in their seats and avoiding each other's gazes. Delia was the first to break the silence.

"So you two, how've you been doing? What about your Pokémon? Serena, I must say, your Charmander, oh, what was his name? Charmer, wasn't it? He's looking very strong. How is he?"

Serena jumped at being addressed by Ash's mom, and her mind went blank for several moments. "H-he's doing great, thank you. We, uh, think he'll be evolving any day now, don't we Ash?" Her friend said nothing, staring at this mom intensely, as though he were trying to read her mind. "...Ash?"

He glanced at her again for a moment, before turning back to Delia and Grace. "What's going on?"

The two mothers cringed slightly, which only made Serena worry more.

"Really, what's happening? Someone isn't after you are they? Or is someone after us?... Please, just tell us what's going on! We've been worrying for a month now, and you've refused to say a single word!" She looked to her mother with wide, imploring eyes. "We're here now. What do you need to tell us?"

Grace took a deep breath, and Serena steadied her nerves for whatever was about to be revealed. She heard the back door push open slightly, and turned to see Pikahontas and Charmer wearily step inside. Ash's Squirtle followed, and the three Pokémon gathered around Ash and Serena's chairs, they too wanting to know what was going on.

"Kids... you're both nearly eleven now... it's going to happen soon so we thought it would be best to ask you to come back, give you time to think about what you want to do..."

"Think about what we want to do?..." Ash repeated, confusion in his voice and a frown on his face.

Delia sighed deeply. "Ash, Serena... you remember all the stories we used to tell you about... the Wizarding world, don't you?"

**So that's the first chapter! Please let me know what you think. I've already started work on the next chapter, and I promise, there will be an explanation for each of Serena's Pokémon. In the next chapter, expect revelations and confrontations of the Oak kind. Thank you for reading! Stay tuned- Lucy Jane**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again! Here's chapter two for you all to enjoy. I'd just like to thank everyone that's reviewed, followed and favourites this story so far! It means a lot :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Harry Potter.**

* * *

Serena's heart seemed to have stopped beating in her chest. The Wizarding world. The world in which her father had died, where Ash's father died, and where Gary Oak's did too. The world their mothers took them away from before they were even old enough to know what was going on around them. She could feel the eyes of her Pokémon on her, but she couldn't do anything but stare at her mother, shell shocked.

Ash seemed to be going through the same inner turmoil she was. She turned to look at him, but he seemed not to notice, his eyes unblinking and solely focused on his mom's own mournful ones.

Briefly, she wondered whether Gary had been asked to come back to Pallet Town as well, but she didn't dwell on the thought, and decided to break the silence. "Wh-what do they have to do with things? You've said yourselves, you haven't had contact with any Wizards or Witches since we left them for good. Why are they relevant all of a sudden?" She knew the answer to her question before she'd even finished saying it, of course. Nothing else needed to be said. Their mothers had never kept information of that world from them, after all. In the Wizarding world, children received their Hogwarts letters at the age of eleven. Sent off to Scotland, students had to be confined within the school's grounds almost year-round as they got their education. She, Ash and Gary were all eleven this year.

If it was possible, it seemed her heart had slowed down even more, and she felt a slight sweat break out across her forehead. It seemed someone was after them. The Wizards. Ash must have (miraculously) come to the same conclusion as her.

"Are you... are you saying we're going to be sent off to their world?No way!" he shouted. Delia tried to cut in but he didn't give her the chance. "No! We left that world along with you, ten years ago, we aren't going back now! Especially not to go to school in some old castle, where we'll be locked up all year round! Why should we?" He sat back in his chair, folding his arms, a stubborn, resolute expression on his face. Pikachu gave a heartfelt "Pika!" to show his agreement. Serena was slightly surprised. While she knew he would be just as happy as her about all of this, she hadn't expected that speech. She did, however, agree with him whole heartedly.

"Ash is right," she said, ignoring the fact that her voice was shaking. "We don't owe them anything. We have no reason to go back to them, especially not now, when we've just started our journeys. What would we do with our Pokémon, for one thing. We couldn't leave them here, could we?" Their moms said nothing. It appeared they were waiting for her to continue. "What about you mom?" Grace's frown deepened. "You were a part of that world too. You can't be happy with us going back, not with..." her voice suddenly dropped and she spoke quietly. "Not with what happened to dad."

She vaguely noted that Pikahontas had clambered onto her lap, and Charmer had his short arms wrapped around her leg, but she didn't look away from her mom, whose expression had gone from confused to mournful in seconds.

"Dear... Delia and I have been talking about this for weeks. We're not happy about it either-"

"You've been talking about this for weeks?! Why are you only talking to us about it now-" Ash was cut off by a stern look from his mom, and Grace hesitated, before continuing.

"We've been discussing this for weeks, and originally we weren't going to do anything. But then Professor Oak pointed out it might be for the best if you went-"

"Professor Oak?! He's in on this too?"

"Yes Ash, Samuel is 'in on this'," Delia said. "If you'll remember, his grandson Gary is also involved. He's been asked to come home as well." In any other situation, Ash's horrified face would have been funny, but right now, she just couldn't find any humour in it.

"As I was saying, Professor Oak pointed out that it might be in your best interests to go. All three of you have displayed some sort of... accidental magic when you were kids. The Professor's just worried that if you don't do something to try and control your magic, it might build up in you- affect you badly. You can understand that, can't you?"

Serena did, and that was one of the worst parts. She genuinely knew why they were asking them to go. She remembered the stories Professor Oak would tell then about people who tried to live their lives, completely neglecting the magic in them, and Arceus knew she didn't want anything like what happened in the stories to happen to her or Ash, hell, even Gary. The three of them were magical, they had always known this, but the idea of actually having to go to Hogwarts wasn't something they had even considered.

By now, Kristoff and Ash's Pidgeotto had joined them. The small group of Pokémon gathered around them, determined expressions on their faces. She got the feeling that whatever they ended up doing, these guys would be sticking with them.

Ash hadn't said anything. Apparently he didn't understand, but then she couldn't blame him. She didn't want to understand, and only begrudgingly acknowledged the fact that she did.

Grace sighed. "We're not trying to make you do anything. Ultimately, we'll leave the decision to you. It is your lives after all, but we really do want you to think about this seriously. On each of your eleventh birthdays, your acceptance letters will arrive. You'll have to know what you're going to do by then."

* * *

Ash's good mood had gone as quickly as it had come. Serena had never seen him so quiet, and she was beginning to worry. Pikachu was perched atop his head, snuggling up and murmuring little "chu"s to him. She didn't understand them but assumed they were supposed to be comforting. His Squirtle, Pidgeotto, and even his Charmeleon, had gathered, each of them with varying levels of concern on their faces.

Pikahontas, Charmer and Kristoff had congregated around her as they all sat in Ash's front garden. Their moms had let them go soon after Grace's speech, and since then all they had done was sit and stare into space together. The heat was still overwhelming, but she ignored it for the most part, the recent revelation taking up all space in her mind. What would all of this mean for her future? Would she be expected to get a job in the Wizarding world? Her future was always something she hated thinking about. Even when she set off on her journey with Ash one year ago, she still didn't really know what she wanted to achieve, travelling around Kanto. All she knew then was all she still knew. While Ash wanted to be a Pokémon Master, beat all the Gyms and collect all the Pokémon, all she wanted to do was build a single team of Pokémon, to be their friend, and to help them become strong. Apart from that, she still had no idea. She did, however, know that whatever she did, she wanted to work with Pokémon. If those Wizards and Witches thought she was leaving this world behind her to go and work in theirs, they were sorely mistaken.

Kristoff climbed into her lap, Pikahontas and Charmer hugging her sides, and she realised she must have looked more upset than she thought. Or maybe they could just tell. Either way, she appreciated their comfort, and gave them a gentle smile. "Thanks guys. You know that whatever I do, I'm not leaving you behind don't you? I won't leave you for anything." Each of them beamed, and she got a "Char!" "Chu!" "Eevee!" from each of her team members in response. For a moment, everything was peaceful again. That is until a loud "What are you talking about?!" came from beside her. She frowned, and looked to her right, where Ash sat, suddenly glaring at her.

"You can't seriously be considering doing this can you?" Ash exclaimed. "What about our journey? What about our Pokémon? We'd have to go to _Scotland_, and that's on the other side of the _world_! Serena, what are you thinking?!"

She glared cooly back. "I'm _thinking_ that we need to at least know how to control our magic, even of it means just going for a year. You remember the horror stories we used to ask Professor Oak to tell us about people who tried to carry on with their lives as if they didn't have magic don't you? I don't want that happening to any of us." Ash opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off before he could. "No, not even to Gary."

Before Ash could respond, a voice from outside the gate said, "Ahh, you care about what happens to me Serena? I'm touched." They whipped their heads around to see Gary himself standing by the white picket fence, hands in his pockets and his usual cocky grin on his face, though at the moment it seemed far less genuine than it normally did. Apparently he had been told the news too. She saw Ash rear with anger, Pikachu's cheeks spark defensively, and so she intervened before anything could start.

"Hey Gary. Have you been told the news yet?" Gary's attention turned to her, and the cocky expression lessened. While he and Ash hadn't been friends in years, she had never had much animosity with him, and they still got on pretty well. Hopefully he'd be more serious with her.

"Just came from gramps' lab now. Pretty crazy, huh?" The look on his face told her that he though it was more than just 'pretty crazy', but she didn't say anything to contradict him. He was obviously still processing everything, just like she and Ash were, and if they were going to be stuck in a school, completely isolated from others like them for at least a whole year then they would have to get used to at least being civil with each other.

Ash, it seemed, had other ideas. He stood, appearing to try and make himself seem taller than his rival. "What do you want Gary?" he asked, the suspicious glare not leaving his face.

"Calm down Ashy-boy, just coming to see whether you two'd found out yet." The cocky smirk was back in place. "So are you going? Or are you too chicken to go too far away from mommy?" Serena sighed. She just _knew_ what was about to happen.

"Of course I'm going Gary! I'm no chicken, I don't need my mom looking after me!" Ash's voice was defiant, and she knew she had to step in before Gary went too far. The last thing they needed right now was a Pokémon battle in the Ketchum's front garden. She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

"That's enough you too!" They both started and turned to her, as though they had forgotten she was there. "If we end up going to Hogwarts, then we'll be the only three people there who even know what Pokémon are. We'll be completely isolated, and we're going to have to stick together, especially when it comes to keeping our Pokémon hidden, because I know neither of you plan to leave your teams behind either." She could her herself getting louder and louder. "You two will have to learn to at least tolerate each other. If this is going to work then I'm not going to spend all my time stopping fights between the two of you." She stopped, and took a deep breath. "Are we clear?"

Both boys stared at her for a moment, apparently shocked by her speech. Gary was the first to react.

"Right, sure thing Serena." He smirked. "We can manage that, can't we Ashy-boy?"

Ash looked slightly irritated by Gary's nicknaming, but nodded his head. "Of course. This whole thing would be a lot easier if we agreed to work together." It seemed to have caused him physical pain just to get the words out, but he had said them, so it was good enough for her.

"Alright then." They stared at one another for some moments. "So... now what do we do? Are we agreeing to go or?..." She trailed off, looking between the boys. Ash looked down at Pikachu, who was sat by his feet. They stared at each other, before, with a small "Pika!" from the electric mouse, Ash looked up at her and nodded.

"It wouldn't hurt, I guess... but just for the first year! Just until we know how to control our magic. Then I'm coming home." She nodded at him, and looked to Gary, who looked suddenly unsure.

"I'll talk to my Pokémon. I'm not going without them. But... if they say they're okay going, then I'm in."

That was good enough for now, she supposed. "Okay. Okay! This is good. Sort of a plan. That's good. Good to have a plan." Ash and Gary were watching her closely, as were the Pokémon, and she realised she might sound slightly frantic. She took a breath. "So, once Gary's talked to his team and has an answer from them, what do we do?"

Surprisingly, it was Ash who answered first. "We should tell our moms, and Gary tell the Professor. They've all been involved with the Wizarding world before, they'll know what to do. Serena, your mom even went to Hogwarts didn't she?"

"Well she did, but she snapped her wand when we left the Wizarding world, she hasn't used any magic since."

"But she'd still know what to do wouldn't she? Things can't have changed that much since she was a student!"

Serena paused. "Well, I- I suppose she'd know what to do, yes." She felt slightly stupid for not thinking of that herself, but brushed it aside. "Yes, I bet mom will know. We just need to talk to her, that's all."

With that, the Kanto Trio came to their agreement, and as Gary released his Pokémon to update them on everything that had happened, Ash and Serena went back inside to tell their waiting mothers the news of their decision.

* * *

**So that's chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please let me know what you think, including any constructive criticism. If you have any questions about where this story is going feel free to ask. Again, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited so far. You have no idea how elated I am every time I see a notification for this story!**

**Also, I am a British writer, so remembering to use 'mom' instead of 'mum' can be difficult. If I make that mistake at any point please let me know so I can change it! - Lucy Jane**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Guess who's back, back again... It's uh, just me. Sorry... But I have this nice, new, shiny chapter for you! Thank you for the favourites and follows since I posted the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one.**

**Disclaimer: ... Do I really have to say it again?! NOTHING BUT THE PLOT AND SERENA'S POKÉMON ARE MINE. **

* * *

Four years ago...

7 year olds Serena and Ash walked beneath the shade in Viridian Forest, the early afternoon sun shining through small openings between the tall branches. It was Serena that had suggested they go out to play in the forest together, she wanted to distract Ash from his recent fall out with their friend Gary. Neither of the boys really told her what happened, but she was sure that whatever was wrong, they would make up soon, and they could go back to playing Pokémon Rangers together in the field near their houses.

Her mommy had let her go with Ash alone today, as long as she took the family Rhyhorn for protection, so the two children walked along, the large rock type Pokémon lumbering along in front of them. She looked at her friend and smiled widely. He seemed a lot happier since they had played cops and robbers (which wasn't nearly as fun with only one cop and one robber) and she just knew her plan to cheer him up was working.

"What should we play now Ash? Hide and seek? The Pokémon Alphabet game? I love that one! What d'you think?" She beamed at him, and he smiled back. Sometimes she was glad her friend was so easily distracted.

"Sure Serena, we can play Pokémon Aplhabet! I'll go first. Hmm, A is for... Absol! A is for Absol. Now you go!"

She grinned even wider, and it was as though he had put an extra skip in her step. "B is for Bulbasaur, of course! Now you-"

She was abruptly cut off and the smile wiped from her face as she tripped on something, and fell roughly to the floor. Her two travelling companions were quick to react, as Ash pulled her to her feet, and Rhyhorn checked her knee, which was bleeding slightly, she realised with a grimace.

She hissed with pain, but tried to be optimistic. "This remind you of anything, Ash?" He smiled weakly at her, before reaching into his pocket, looking for something. She heard a small, pathetic noise behind her, and turned to see what it was. When she did, she felt as if she had swallowed an ice cube. It was a Pichu, laying on its side, facing away from them. She gasped loudly, drawing the attention away from her, and onto the tiny, injured Pokémon she had tripped on, and she heard Ash draw in breath sharply.

Serena felt tears welling up in her eyes for the poor little thing, covered with cuts and not moving, and she hurried to it, gathering it up in her arms and rocking it slightly.

"Oh, Ash, what do we do?! What do you think happened to it?" Her friend had gone very pale, and he seemed to not have heard her, so she tried to calm herself down and think clearly. They were closer to home than anywhere else, but there wasn't a Pokémon Centre for miles! When she realised this, she began to panic even more, so she took a deep breath, steadied her nerves. The life of this Pichu depended upon her, Ash and Rhyhorn right now, and she was going to make sure it lived! 'Think Serena, think. Who would know how to fix a hurt Pokémon in Pallet Town... not mommy, she can only race them...' Then it came to her.

"Professor Oak!" Ash looked at her, confused. "We can take it to Professor Oak! He knows loads about Pokémon and stuff! I bet he'd be able to fix this one!" Suddenly the spring was back in her step, and when Rhyhorn made a noise that she took as him agreeing, she began to jog on the spot. "Come on, let's go!" She set off back down the path, completely ignoring the pain in her knee. She looked down at the Pichu in her arms as she went and kissed the top of its head. "Don't you worry Pichu, I know someone who can fix hurt Pokémon! You're going to be back here in no time!" She quickly realised, however, that only Rhyhorn was following. She looked back at her friend. "Ash, come on! We have to go now!"

He looked at her, and then at the Pichu, then at her again. Serena felt herself becoming impatient quickly. What was he waiting for? They had to go! "Serena I- I think you should go and see Professor Oak on your own. I'll go back to your house with Rhyhorn and tell your mom what's happened. If we're much longer she'll begin to worry." Not wanting to waste anymore time and knowing that Professor Oak's lab was far away from her house, she quickly nodded.

"Fine. That's fine, you take Rhyhorn and I'll go to Professor Oak, let's just go already!" She didn't wait for an answer, turning and running with all the might in her short legs. She ran and ran and ran. She didn't even stop running when she was on the dirt path that led back to Pallet Town and there was a burning pain in her chest, her breathing heavily laboured. Every second she wasted was another second the Pichu's condition could be getting worse!

She ran through the centre of town, ignoring the concerned calls of the towns folk who tried to talk to her. As she ran, somebody grabbed her arm, and held it tight. By this point she was becoming desperate. Tears were welling in her eyes again, as the person she recognised as Mrs Fuller, the shop lady, tried to talk to her. The tears spilled over as more towns folk began to gather around and her head began to spin as they all talked at the same time. Desperation set in as she clutched the Pichu to her chest tightly.

"EVERYONE STOP IT!" she shouted, her voice thick and tearful. Almost immediately, the crowd grew silent. She took some deep breaths, desperately wishing she had made Ash come with her, and carried on, ignoring the tears streaming quickly down her face. "I have to get this Pokémon to Professor Oak right now because something's hurt it and if I don't then it might die, and I can't let it die! Everybody just leave me alone! I have to get to Professor Oak right now!" The people surrounding her suddenly parted, and she thought she must have sounded a lot tougher than she felt.

That is, until a shadow fell over her, and she looked up through her tears, to see the Professor himself standing over her, a deep frown on his face. She stood quickly and tried to speak, but felt as though she was choking on her own words, so she just held out the injured Pokémon, which, she noticed with horror was no longer conscious, and waited for him to react, letting out a harsh sob that she had been trying to hold in.

Professor Oak hesitated for only a moment, and it looked like he was taking in the Pichu's injuries, before he beckoned her to come forward, placing a hand on her back and guiding her through the crowd, which broke out into whispers as soon as she was clear of them. She clutched the Pichu to her chest again, the tears only falling faster when she felt how cold it had become, and walked with the Professor, her head down as he guided her to his lab. They walked up the steps, and he held the door open for her as she stepped inside. She stood stock-still in the entrance as he closed the door behind them, and let him guide her through the hallway and to his work office, despite knowing her way around already. Just before they went inside, a door on the opposite side of the hall opened, and her heart clenched when Gary stepped out, quickly going pale when he saw her tear stained face, and the Pokémon in her arms.

"Serena? What-" he blurted out, but she turned away, hurried into Professor Oak's office and carefully deposited the Pichu onto his examination table. She remembered Gary telling her and Ash about it the last time they had visited.

"This is where grandpa looks at all the Pokémon he needs to fix!" he had said, and she had been in complete awe because she had though that only Nurse Joy could fix Pokémon. Now she looked at the same table with hope and anxiety, desperate for the little creature she had found to be okay.

She heard Professor Oak talking, Gary saying something back, but couldn't be bothered trying to hear them. She could only stare at the Pichu, and mutter over and over again "please be okay, please be okay." She heard the door close, and Professor Oak came round to the other side of the table, the out-of-place frown still on his face, and look down at his patient.

"Please fix it Professor Oak! You have to fix it, I only found it a couple of hours ago so that's not long enough for it to die! Please, you have to do some-" She found herself cut off as he raised a hand to silence her.

"Serena dear, please try to calm down. I can help this Pichu, but you need to keep yourself calm." She stopped and took several deep breaths, clinging to the edge of the examination table. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop the never-ending flow of tears, and after a few moments, actually found that she was able to breathe normally again. When she opened her eyes, the Professor was already looking over the Pichu, and a box of tissues had been placed in front of her. Sniffling, she took one, and rubbed at her still streaming eyes with it.

Professor Oak glanced up at her for a moment. "Are you okay now? Sit down, you're shaking like a leaf." She looked around and found a large plastic chair in the corner of the room. Professor Oak was working on the Pichu again, so she went over and dragged the chair across the room. She put it in front of the examination table and clambered onto it, her eyes resting on the rescued Pokémon again.

Only now was she relaxing. She had done it. She had actually managed to get it here. This thought was almost enough to make her beam with happiness, but it wasn't okay yet, at least, judging by the look on the Professor's face it wasn't.

She sat in silence for almost twenty minutes as the Professor worked. She had absolutely no idea what he was actually doing, but it was sort of comforting to see something being done. She heard the door open, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the table. She did, however, when she felt a small hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Ash stood by her side, Gary and her mom behind him. Serena said nothing, just turned completely, sliding off the chair and throwing her arms around Ash's neck. She didn't even know why she did it, but it made her feel better when he hugged her back.

His voice was muffled as he spoke. "I'm sorry I didn't go with you Serena," he said. "I'm really sorry."

She shook her head and laughed slightly. "It's okay Ash, I got the Pichu here anyway."

As she released him he muttered, "I'll make it up to you, I promise." She smiled and looked around at her mom and Gary.

Her mom smiled gently at her and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. "Well done dear. I'm proud of you." Serena felt as though a balloon was swelling in her chest at these words. Her mommy was proud of her. Of her!

She beamed, and turned to Gary, who smiled weakly at her. "Hey there Serena. Grandpa asked me to fetch your mom and Ash... hope that's okay. Glad to see you're okay too... I was worried for a minute there."

"Worried about Serena? What're you talking about?" Ash asked, smiling uneasily at them. Serena smiled even wider, if that was possible. Had Ash and Gary made up while she was sat in here? She knew they couldn't stay mad at each other for long! Once she knew that the Pichu would be okay, everything would be right again, she was sure of it!

"Serena, I've finished," called Professor Oak, and she immediately dashed back to him, climbing hastily up into the chair again and staring down at the Pichu.

"Is it going to be okay now? Did you fix it?" She couldn't take her eyes away from the small creature, staring in wonder. The Professor had completely cleaned it up, but it was covered with bandages, so she really couldn't tell.

He chuckled. "Yes, she's going to be just fine. A few weeks and she'll be back to normal."

"She's a she?" Ash asked, as he and Gary joined her, gazing down at the Pokémon.

"She is indeed, Ash," he said.

Serena heard her mommy ask what had happened to it, and she looked up sharply. What had happened? Was it a- a person that did this? She recoiled with the thought.

"It's difficult to tell," the Professor said with a heavy sigh. "I think it was most likely some sort of bird Pokémon, possibly a Spearow. Many of the cuts looked like they had been caused by a beak."

Serena looked down at the Pichu, an ache in her chest. Why would anyone- Pokémon or person- want to hurt this little thing?

"I will be keeping her here until I feel she's ready to be released back into the wild- you'll be more than welcome to visit her every day of course, Serena."

She beamed again. "Of course I'll visit! I'll visit every day and look after her. Ash and Gary, you'll help too, won't you?"

"Sure we will Serena!" Ash exclaimed. "I want to make sure this little guy gets better as well!"

"Yeah, me too! We've got this, right Ashy-boy?" Gary said loudly.

Before anything else could be said, her mommy stepped up. "I think it's about time we were all going home. Come on Ash, Gary, I'll walk the two of you home." Serena opened her mouth go protest, but Grace intersected. "Don't worry, Serena. You can come back tomorrow, but right now both the Pichu and Professor Oak need to rest."

Serena deflated slightly, but nodded. With one last glance at the Pichu, she jumped from her chair and joined Ash and Gary by the door.

"Thank you Professor Oak!" she called, and he smiled at her.

"It's not a problem dear, just go home and rest. I dare say you've had quite the day." She smiled back and nodded.

As they walked back home that evening, she realised she had completely forgotten about her hurt knee. She looked down at it and shrugged. It was already beginning to scab over anyway.

* * *

Present day...

Ash and Gary never actually made up, of course. It seemed their truce only lasted as long as it took for Pichu to recover, and then they were back to not speaking, unless trading barbed insults. She had visited the Pichu every day, and once she had woken up on the third day, spent lots of time playing with her. On some days Ash and Gary joined her. Sometimes just Ash, sometimes just Gary. When the time had come for Pichu to be released, it had, instead of leaving, clung to her, and the two had been together ever since. Serena smiled, looking at Pikahontas, who stood talking with Pikachu and Squirtle on the other side of the garden. She had no idea what they were talking about, but they looked happy enough, so she redirected her gaze to the back door, where Ash and Gary were just emerging.

The evening sun cast a pleasant warmth over her, and she sat up from her position slumped at the base of the large tree in her back garden when the two boys joined her. Once they had told their families that they were willing to go, the trio had spent the next week thinking about everything they would need to prepare, meeting up every evening to discuss plans. The two boys were managing to be civil with each other, ignoring the occasional comment from Gary about Ash's trainer ability, or from Ash about Gary's hair (which, it turned out, was a strangely touchy subject).

She started their meeting for tonight. "So, are we all decided on which Pokémon we're going to take with us and which ones we're asking Professor Oak to look after?" It wasn't a choice for her, she just had her Pikachu, Charmander and Eevee, she'd be taking all three of them, but Ash and Gary had both caught quite a few Pokémon over their first year of travelling.

"Yep! I'm all decided," Ash declared proudly. "I'm taking Pikachu, obviously, and also Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and, well..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I talked to Charmeleon, and he said he'd, uh, rather hang back with Professor Oak for now." He looked down, whether out of embarrassment or something else entirely she wasn't sure, but she still reached out to rub him arm sympathetically.

When Gary burst out laughing, however, he looked up in anger and Serena cringed internally. "Your Charmeleon won't even go with you?! Oh, that's just sad!" He continued to laugh as both Serena and Ash's tempers began to grow, but before Ash could do anything, Serena was angrily clamping a hand over Gary's mouth.

"Stop it Gary, right now! I'll have you know that Ash's Charmeleon would have died when he was still a Charmander if it wasn't for him! Yes, he's having obedience issues right now but they're working through them. Charmeleon wants so stay behind this year, so what?!" She removed her hand and sat back, folding her arms and ignoring the wide-eyed stares from their Pokémon, the grateful glance from Ash.

Gary shifted awkwardly. "Right, uh... sorry Ash." The look on his face suggested he was anything but sorry, however Ash just shrugged.

"Whatever. So who're you taking?"

Gary still looked uncomfortable, but he proceeded. "Well I'll be taking my Wartortle, and both of my Nidorans. I figured, y'know, take a guy and girl Nidoran, might be leaving at the end of the school year with an extra Pokémon." He grinned boyishly at Ash, who grinned back uneasily, and she rolled her eyes fondly. Of course he couldn't just say he didn't get the joke. "I also thought I'd take my Doduo. That's it though. Didn't wanna overload myself." He finished with a shrug and she nodded.

"Great. That's our teams sorted out for when we speak to Dumbledore." They had asked Grace how to contact Dumbledore about taking their Pokémon, and she had suggested sending a personal request to speak with him back with the first Acceptance letter received, which would be Gary's, as the next day, it was his birthday. Ash and Serena were, for once, excited about this.

* * *

**That's the third chapter done! You learned of Pikahontas' past, and the next chapter, things start go get going. As always, thank you for every read, review, favourite and follow. Please let me know what you thought of today's chapter and once more, just in case you missed it, the teams are as follows;**

**Serena:**

**- Pikahontas (Pikachu)**

**- Charmer (Charmander)**

**- Kristoff (Eevee)**

**Ash:**

**- Pikachu**

**- Squirtle**

**- Bulbasaur**

**- Pidgeotto**

**Gary:**

**- Wartortle**

**- Nidoran (male)**

**- Nidoran (female)**

**- Doduo**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, yet another chapter has graced this fanfiction. Sorry this one took longer than usual, I was away! **

**If any of you were thinking the characters are a little OOC, I've written them this way because this is how I believe they would behave in a universe where they all grew up together.**

**Thanks for all the support this story has received so far, and without further ado... oh no, wait...**

**DISCLAIMER: You know already. SO! Without further ado, chapter four.**

* * *

Gary's perspective

On the morning of 2nd June 1991, Gary woke to find a large, brown owl tapping incessantly on his bedroom window, waiting to be let in. He frowned, dropping back onto his pillow and trying to remember why he was supposed to let it in, before everything came rushing back to him. It was finally his eleventh birthday, and that would be his Hogwarts letter. He grinned widely, throwing back the covers and opening his window. The large bird flew in and landed atop his model Garchomp, holding out its leg and waiting for him to relieve it of its duty. Closing his window again, he ran over to untie the letter it held, but holding it in his hands, he noticed that it was written out on old parchment paper, and frowned again. 'Seems pretty archaic,' he thought. Maybe that was something else they would have to ask this Dumbledore guy about. Just how set back in time was this school? He brushed the thought away, instead deciding to release his female Nidoran, Nova, and show her his letter, his excitement rising. He ignored the indignant skwark of the school owl (it's not like it could tell anyone at Hogwarts about whatever it saw here), and when Nova jumped up onto his shoulder, they began to look through the letter together. It read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Oak,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"They await my owl..." He looked up at the owl that had delivered the letter, which was staring intently at Nova. "Can you come back here tonight? I have to do something before I write back." It made a movement that he took as a shrug before taking off into flight, and out his window, so he stretched, Nova jumping down from his shoulder, and went to get ready for the day.

* * *

Serena's perspective

Sun streamed in through her bedroom curtains, shining harshly onto her closed eyes. She frowned and turned onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow and groaning. For another two minutes she laid in silence, and she was just beginning to fall asleep again, when she heard a pair of tiny feet pattering across her bed. She turned her head to the side as Pikahontas sidled up to her and snuggled up, curling against her under the covers. She reached her hand up to scratch Pika's head and sighed, pushing herself up and glancing at the clock on her bedside table. 9:46.

"Not too bad," she muttered sleepily, yawning and stretching widely. Pikahontas murmured a displeased "Chuu", but unfurled herself and stood. "Sorry Pika, we have to get ready. Gary's birthday, remember?" The electric mouse gave a non-committal shrug and hopped down from her place on the bed, walking over to where Serena had sunk into her desk chair, and jumping up onto the vanity table where she sat. "He should be getting his letter today. We can finally start getting some proper answers."

"Pika! Pika Pikachu!" _'You're definitely taking all of us then!' _

"Of course! I'm not leaving you behind for anything. This'll be strange, but it's going to be a whole new adventure. We go on adventures together." She brushed her hair and reached for her red felt hat, playing with its hem. "We're going really far away this time, Pika. Really, really far away."

* * *

Breakfast was a rushed affair, Serena and her Pokémon eating their way through several bowls of cereal before Ash could arrive and eat everything himself. She was finishing up her second bowl of CoCo Puffs when the doorbell rang, but she let her mom answer.

She heard her mom say "Oh, hello Ash," before the sound of the front door closing. Her black haired friend entered the room seconds later, Pikachu perched upon his shoulder.

"Morning Serena," he yawned, walking over to the table and collapsing into the chair opposite hers. Pikachu jumped from his shoulder to go and sit with her Pokémon, who had gathered at the other end of the table.

"Still catching up on your sleep then?" she asked with a wry smile. Honestly, it was like the only thing that got him up every morning was the prospect of challenging gyms.

He yawned again. "Yeah, I guess. I forgot how comfortable my bed was with all the travelling we were doing."

She grinned at his sleepy face, one side covered by pillow marks. Somehow, she didn't doubt what he said. "You ready for today then?"

He frowned at her, a confused look on his face. "To-day?" he asked slowly.

She sighed heavily. "Yes Ash, today. It's Gary's birthday, remember?"

He stared at her, before falling back in his seat. "Ugh, yeah, I remember now. Gary's birthday." He said this last part with such a look of displeasure on his face that it made her heart clench and her eyes narrow.

"You have to be nice today, Ash. Even without everything that's going on, it's still his birthday, and you should try to get on with him. Or at least ignore him when he starts poking fun at you." Her friend remained stubbornly silent, and she sighed, reaching a hand across the table to grasp one of his. Their Pokémon stopped their conversation to stare at them. "I know how much he gets to you, Ash, I really do. But if this whole going to Hogwarts thing is going to work out, we're going to have to learn to work together." He turned his head towards her, and she looked down. "The two of you used to be such good friends. The three of us were a team, remember? We always said we were going to go on adventures together. This is our chance to do just that." She released his hand, and shoved her empty cereal bowl away from her, the chocolaty milk sloshing around inside it. Pikahontas jumped up as she stood, Charmer and Kristoff following. Pikachu went to reclaim his spot on Ash's shoulder. She smiled at her team, ignoring Ash's weary gaze. "You guys ready?" They all jumped with excitement, and she beamed at them. "Right then, let's go."

Pikahontas fist-pumped. "Chu, Pika Pika!" _'Ready when you are!' _

She turned to Ash. "You ready?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Sure, I'm ready."

* * *

Gary's place was predictably packed out with people. Well-wishers from all over Pallet Town gathered to congratulate the Professor's grandson for his continued existence, and the birthday boy himself was crowded by the other neighbourhood kids, which, of course, included his personal team of cheerleaders, so when Ash and Serena arrived, they found they felt quite out of place. Serena's team of three had returned to their PokéBalls as soon as they heard the noise coming from the house, so Pikachu was the only Pokémon that could see the chaos that was Gary's party. His ears flattened slightly, and he hoped that when Ash and Serena had their birthdays, they would be nothing like this.

"Now or never I guess," Ash said, heaving a sigh and going to open the front door. Neither of them had brought presents, but they soon realised that this wouldn't be an issue, as the coffee table in the middle of the main room was stacked up high with them. The two friends rolled their eyes. They walked in pursuit of Gary, ignoring the questioning eyes of the party-goers ("What on Earth are those two doing here? I thought they didn't speak to Gary anymore," muttered Mrs Milner to her husband, who shook his head. "No dear, I've seen the three of them together a lot recently.") and pushing past people to try and find him.

Their search seemed to be turning up useless until they heard someone shout "Serena! Ashy-boy, over here!" and they turned to see the birthday boy striding up to them, his usual cocky grin in place. "There you two are! It's half ten already, I was beginning to think you were lost, but then with Ash's directional skills I wouldn't be too surprised." His flock of cheerleaders had followed him over, and promptly burst out laughing. Serena cringed, both because if anything she'd said to Ash at the breakfast table that morning was going to sink in then Gary should probably have tried to hold his tongue, and because the cheerleaders' high-pitched laughter was making her ears hurt.

Ash glanced over at her before putting on what looked like a very forced smile. "Hey Gary... uh, happy birthday and stuff." Serena shook her head fondly. Ash never really did have a way with words.

Gary grinned nonetheless. "Thanks man. Glad you're both here." He looked at her, and back at Ash. "The thing got here this morning, by the way." He said pointedly, and she repressed a gasp of excitement. The first letter was here! When his cheerleaders began swarming him again, asking desperately what the "thing" was, he shook his head solemnly, and not at all sincerely. "I'm sorry ladies, I'm afraid that's classified information." Many of them wilted with disappointment, but several of them were only more spurred on by his words, so Serena tugged at Ash's sleeve, nodding her head towards the back door when he looked at her. He nodded to her and they turned back to Gary.

"Gary? We're just going outside for some air," she said, smiling sweetly. He looked at them sharply, his eyes screaming 'No! Don't leave me with them!', but they turned, grinning widely, and headed to the back door. Pikachu was snickering as they headed out into the sun, and she exhaled loudly. "Well he's going to kill us," she said pleasantly as they strolled across the far less packed grass.

Ash grinned at her. "If only we'd got a camera with us! Serena, his face was priceless!"

She laughed lightly. "It really was, wasn't it?" They walked to an old bench at the end of the garden and sat down together. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and turned to her.

"Pi, Chu! Pika!" She frowned slightly, not able to completely understand him yet, so she looked at Ash.

"He wants you to release Pikahontas," he grinned, and she smiled at Pikachu, before reaching into her red bag and pulling out Pikahontas' PokéBall. Over the course of the year, the two Pikachus had become quite close. Soon, the two electric mice were talking rapidly to each other, so much so that neither trainer could understand what their small friends were saying to one another. Serena turned to Ash and smiled.

"So, the first letter's finally here. Do you think we should start planning out our reply now?"

"Sure Serena. How d'you wanna do this?"

"Well I've thought it through, and I think we should just keep it simple. Politely ask that the Headmaster come and see us whenever he has the time, because we need to speak to him about a... uh, a personal issue! Or something like that."

Ash nodded. "Sounds good, but, er..." He trailed off and looked away from her.

She frowned. "But what? Have I missed something?" She didn't think she had, but there was always a chance, she supposed. Not that she liked the idea.

"Well it's just, mom said this Dumbledore guy's supposed to be pretty important. Why would he take the time to come and see us?"

Her frown deepened. "Uh, well I-I don't know." Her voice grew quiet. "I suppose we'll just have to hope he takes our letter seriously."

At that moment, the back door flew open and a very annoyed Gary Oak appeared, glaring lightly at them.

She smiled innocently. "Hey there Gary! How's your party been so far?"

Ash grinned. "Looks like you were having a blast in there. Don't let us take you away from the fun."

Gary's glare deepened. "I can't believe I have to spend a whole year with you two dorks for my only good human company."

Ash laughed and shook his head mockingly. "Now now Gary, I bet there's gonna be plenty of nice girls at Hogwarts who'll sign up for your Gary Oak Appreciation Club once we get there." This set Serena and the Pikachus off, and soon the four of them were laughing loudly, the look on Gary's face only making them laugh harder.

This went on for maybe two minutes, before it seemed Gary had reached his limit. "Okay! That's enough, Ash isn't that funny." He crossed his arms, and Serena took a couple of deep breaths, calming herself down. Despite everything, she didn't want to upset him too much on his birthday.

"Right, right, of course. We're good, we won't laugh at you again." He have her a look. "Promise." Gary stared at them while Ash's laughter died down to small snickers, then, once he had calmed down enough, Gary pulled out a wad of parchment paper from his back pocket and joined them on the bench. The two Pikachus perked up with interest, and joined their trainers.

"This is it," he said, holding out the yellow parchment for them to take. "What d'you think?" Serena took the papers from him and weighed them up in her hands.

She frowned. "Why's it written on parchment paper?" Gary shrugged at her.

"Maybe it's supposed to be... I dunno, authentic looking?" They both looked at Ash, whose expression became indignant under their gazes. "What? I have ideas sometimes!" he said defensively. They continued to stare. He huffed. "I just thought that maybe cause the school's a castle and all, they might want their letters to look authentic." She and Gary stared at him for another moment, before looking at each other, both just as surprised as the other that they didn't think of that.

"I-I suppose that could be it," she said. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

Ash sat up straighter, grinning. "Well, we can't all be as smart as me," he said smugly. She sighed and whacked his leg with the letter.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, we're not even at the school yet."

His grin didn't fade. "Whatever you say Serena dear." She smiled and looked down at the letter.

They sat in silence for a minute as she read it's contents, and when she was done, handed it to Ash, who began to read.

She looked at Gary. "So what do you want to do? Send our letter for Professor Dumbledore back with your acceptance note?" He nodded.

"Mhm, I thought so. I told the owl that delivered it to come back tonight, so we've got all afternoon to write it."

She nodded. "That's good. Gives us plenty of time to decide what we want to actually put in it."

"Gramps suggested we don't give too much away, y'know, just tell them the basics of what they need to know, to get Dumbledore to come talk to us."

"Sounds good," Serena said, looking back towards the house. "Speaking of your grandpa, where is he? We didn't see him inside so..."

Gary shrugged. "Down at his lab I think. He didn't really wanna hang around such a big crowd."

Ash looked up, apparently finished reading. "Okay, so this didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know... I guess all the only thing left to do is write back now."

Serena agreed, there really wasn't anything else to do apart from write back and wait. "So we'll meet up once the party's over, yeah? It shouldn't take long to write." Before either boy could respond, the back door opened again and one of Gary's cheerleaders stuck her head outside.

"Gary, are you coming? You've been out here for _ages_." She dragged the last word out, tilting her head and making a puppy dog expression at him. Gary sighed almost silently, folding up his letter and putting it away. Serena and Ash suppressed grins again as he stood and started walking back to the house. "Besides, you never did tell us what this 'thing' was!" She finished brightly, going back inside. Gary stopped in his tracks and looked skyward for a moment, before carrying on.

"Let's meet at four, should give me enough time to clear the place out," he called back.

She and Ash shared wide grins once he was back inside, their Pikachus giggling loudly.

* * *

Serena sat at the base of a large tree in the field near her house. Pikahontas and Kristoff both lay relaxing in the sun with Ash's Pokémon, bar Bulbasaur, who was with his trainer a few metres away from them. She wasn't sure what sort of training they were doing, but she knew they were doing something, which was good. She sat with Charmer, having decided to do some one on one training with him while the weather was still nice. They were due to meet Gary in ten minutes, so they didn't have much time left.

"Okay Charmer, your scratch attack's looking good, so I though we could concentrate on one of your fire-based moves now," she smiled. Her Starter smiled happily.

"Char, Charmander!" _'You name it!' _

She grinned. "Still living up to your name I see," she muttered, looking down go ponder which move to practice. "How about Ember? It's the weakest fire-type move you know now, but until you're ready to start learning the more difficult ones, we need all the ones you do know to be as strong as possible." Charmer nodded again, so she got to her feet, and rooted around in her bag for a couple of the targets she'd made in her few weeks at home. She stuck one into the ground, quite far away from her Pokémon, who bounced up and down on his feet enthusiastically. The other Pokémon turned to watch. "Okay, when I say so, use Ember on the target I put over there." She pointed to it, and Charmer narrowed his gaze at it. "I want you to concentrate on how far your attack reaches for this one, so don't worry too much about the attack's intensity." He shook his short arms out quickly, before getting into an attack stance. "Right then... Charmer! Use Ember!"

Almost instantly, a thin but powerful stream of fire erupted from his mouth, barrelling towards the target at lightning speed. It hit with perfect precision (something they'd worked on the week before) and went up in flames. She clapped loudly, beaming at her Charmander, who jumped in the air with excitement. That was definitely the longest range shot she'd ever seen him use! The other Pokémon cheered, and she gave Charmer a pat on the head. "That was awesome! The best I've seen you do!"

"Char! Char!" _'You really think so?!'_

"Definitely! Very well done! Want to go again?" she asked, holding up the second target as Squirtle went to extinguish the original one, which was still flaming.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Serena, but it's time to leave," Ash said, walking over with Bulbasaur, who was smiling proudly. She assumed their training session had gone well too. "Saw your Ember there Charmer, it's looking pretty good!" Said Pokémon puffed out his chest.

"Right," she said as Squirtle returned and started talking to Charmer, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at whatever the Water type was saying. "Let's go then."

* * *

Seated around the dining table, they stared down at the blank sheet of lined paper in front of them.

"Who's writing?" Ash asked, looking between Serena and Gary.

"Well it's Gary's letter, so he should really be the one to do it," Serena reasoned, but the birthday boy shook his head quickly.

"But Serena, you've got the best hand writing. You should do it," she said, pushing the paper towards her. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're just too lazy to do it yourself," she said accusingly, and he smiled innocently.

"Lazy? Of course not! But it is my birthday, so..." He smiled appealingly at her.

She shook her head and grabbed a pen from her bag. "Right then. How are we starting this?" They leant over the paper as she began to write, Gary dictating for the most part, Ash offering the occasional comment, and Serena changing words to make the whole thing sound more grown up, adding in her own parts when she thought the boys had missed something out. Her mom always did say she was too grown up for her age. Here it seemed this paid off. Their finished letter read:

To Deputy Headmistress McGonagall,

I would like to accept my place at Hogwarts School, and will most likely see you on 1st September, however, I would like to ask whether it would be possible for the Headmaster to visit personally, to discuss a personal issue I might have with attending.

Two of my friends should also be attending Hogwarts this year, and without our problem being discussed with Professor Dumbledore, we won't be able to say for definite if we will be going. If he can come and speak with us, we would very much appreciate it.

Sincerely, Gary Oak

They looked at each other as Pikachu and Kristoff read through their handiwork.

"Well, it's not perfect, but I guess it gets the message across okay," Ash smiled.

"Absolutely," she said. "All we do now is send it off and wait."

There was a tapping at the window. "Speaking of sending it off..." Gary muttered, getting up and opening the window. A large owl flew in, and landed on the table, sending Pikachu and Kristoff scurrying backwards to avoid it. The two Pokémon glared reproachfully, but the owl was deliberately not looking at them.

Ash stared, an amazed look on his face. "How did it time that so well?"

She shrugged and picked up their letter. "Everyone think it's okay to go then?" She got a nod from everyone in the room, so she folded the paper and stuffed it into an envelope, trying it the the owl's leg.

Gary came to stand beside her. "Okay then. You know where you're going, don't you?" The owl said nothing (of course) and just gave him a condescending look, before taking off again, disappearing out the window. They stood and watched it fly until it was nothing more than a dot in the pale blue sky.

* * *

A week had passed since they had sent off their letter with Gary's reply, and they had, yesterday, received a reply from the Headmaster himself, telling them that he would be "stopping by some time tomorrow". No one was particularly happy with this response, but they supposed that with a schedule as busy as his, it was difficult to give an exact time. Still, Serena could tell her mom and Delia weren't very pleased.

In three days it would be her eleventh birthday, and her own letter would be arriving. She couldn't help feel excited at the prospect of finally getting her letter, but the idea of finally getting the answers they were looking for excited her far more, and so that morning, when she awoke, she realised she couldn't possibly go back to sleep, and immediately leapt up out of bed. Her clock told her it was 6:43 in the morning, but she knew her mom went outside earlier than that every morning to tend to her Rhyhorn, so she wasn't going to be risking waking anyone up by being awake at this time. Pikahontas, Charmer and Kristoff continued to slumber, so she left them with a smile, and dashed downstairs to the kitchen to bake, which always seemed to help calm her down.

* * *

Three batches of PokéPuffs, two trays of chocolate chip cookies, and one tray of gingerbread men later, it was just turning ten o'clock, and Serena, covered in flour and still in her pyjamas, finally stopped, looking at the fruits of her labour proudly. She thought Ash would probably just we waking up, and grinned to herself. It truly was amazing how much that boy could sleep when they weren't travelling. It was his sleeping habits that meant she almost had to travel by herself last year, she remembered. If Professor Oak hadn't had Pikachu, she wasn't sure what they would have done.

Brushing her dusty hands on her pyjama bottoms, she headed back upstairs, to shower and get ready for her day.

* * *

Done with her shower and dressed in a pair of pale yellow trousers with a plain white t-shirt, she went downstairs, her still-wet hair dripping down her back, and checked her baked goods happily. They were cooled down enough for her to have some. She picked up a gingerbread man, just as her Pokémon came down the stairs, looking around far too casually for her liking. Pikahontas and Kristoff's noses were twitching, and they looked over at the three batches of PokéPuffs she left cooling by the window. She rolled her eyes, and intervened before they even asked.

"Not until you've eaten some proper breakfast, besides, they're still kind of hot." They sighed, far too dramatically for her to take them seriously, and went over to the table, where she had put out three bowls of proper Pokémon food. She bit the head off her gingerbread man as the doorbell rang, and she got up to go answer it, smiling when she saw Gary standing there.

"Morning," she greeted, moving out of the way to let him in.

"Yeah, morning." He smiled back at her before making a b-line for the chocolate chip cookies. He looked at her for a moment, until she waved her hand upwards.

"Go ahead." As he helped himself, she went to one of the chairs at the breakfast table and sat down, now biting off one of the gingerbread man's legs, munching on it happily.

Gary soon joined her, sliding into the chair opposite with a rather sizeable pile of cookies in his hand.

"So, the Professor's coming today," he said lightly, examining one of the cookies before biting off half of it and chewing. "Shud b'nterstin."

She frowned at him. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

He chewed for several more moments, before swallowing, and saying "Should be interesting." She 'ahh'-ed in recognition, and looked at her gingerbread man, determining the best limb to bite off next. She chose his left arm.

After chewing and swallowing (boys could be so gross sometimes, she thought), she put it down and looked hesitantly at Gary. She really needed to talk to him about Ash, cause she sure as hell couldn't rely on just the one boy to be the bigger person. Gary had almost set Ash off several times in the last few weeks, and he really needed to stop it.

"Gary?" she asked, waiting for him to look up from his cookies. When he did, she took a deep breath, and continued. "About a week ago I had a word with Ash and asked him to try and ignore you whenever you've started poking fun at him like you do..." She paused here and gave Gary a slightly irritated look. He looked apprehensive, she noticed. "He's been doing pretty well with that actually, considering... but either way, I'm only bringing this up because I want you to try harder too, if you can." She didn't want to sound like she was trying to make him be nice to Ash all the time (whether that's what she was doing or not) so she took a moment, to consider how she was going to continue. "Just... try and be nicer, please? It makes things really awkward whenever you make him mad, and once you're gone I'm the one that has to put up with him being all moody." She hoped her request sounded reasonable, but she couldn't be sure.

Gary seemed conflicted. "Well, yeah. All right I guess, I just didn't realise how much it actually bothered him. We used to joke about that stuff all the time when we were kids!"

She nodded. "I know. I know, but that's back when we were all still friends! He knew you were only joking back then, but now whenever you make those kinds of jokes, they just sound mean."

Now, he seemed uncomfortable. God, she swore she wasn't doing any more of these damn interventions this year. "I don't know why he's still bothered by them! I mean yeah, most of the time since we've been travelling I've just been trying to get a rise outta him, but for the last month or so I thought things were getting better!"

She smiled gently. "They have been getting better recently, but Ash is still constantly on guard around you! And I have to admit, I sort of am too... I know you and I are friends still, but every time we've run into each other for the past year you've not done anything other than try to make Ash angry! Can't you two just try to get along now? I miss you. I miss how we all used to be." Her Pokémon were sitting quietly in the corner of the room, watching the exchange closely.

Gary sighed. "Okay Serena. Fine, I'll try to patch things up with Ashy-boy."

She smiled softly. "He hates it when you call him that, you know," she said quietly.

He grinned back. "I sorta figured." He stood up, scooping the rest of his cookies into his trouser pocket. She wrinkled her nose slightly. "Well, I'm off to gramps' lab, if you need me you know where to find me." With that, he departed, walking out of the house and closing the door a little too loudly behind him.

Serena shook her head, water droplets going everywhere, and stood, walking over to the windowsill to fetch three PokéPuffs, one for each of her Pokémon. They clamoured excitedly around her bare feet and she handed them out before heading upstairs to dry her hair. "Honestly," she thought to herself. "All this over a damn broken PokéBall."

* * *

**Chapter end! Thanks so much again for reading, and for your favourites, follows, reviews, ect. Please leave a review of today's chapter and let me know what you think, whether it's good or not! This chapter would have been up sooner, but I was on holiday so...**

**Either way, thanks so much again for reading, and next chapter, Wizard meets Pokémon for the first time!- Stay tuned, Lucy Jane**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello reader! Welcome to chapter five, I wrote it just for you! Erm... sorry about the wait, damn writers block... Thank you for the love you've given to far, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

One year previously...

Serena sighed impatiently, standing by the entrance to Professor Oak's lab and looking back towards town, tugging nervously on the hem of her pale yellow top. It was almost nine o'clock, and if Ash didn't hurry up, there wouldn't be any Pokémon left for him to start his journey with. She was stood away from a gaggle of townspeople, who had gathered to cheer on Gary Oak, an old friend of hers who she hadn't spoken to in a while. He would be starting his journey today too, and she cringed when she remembered how they used to speak of journeying together. She was certain this wouldn't be the case anymore. Looking around, she saw one of the girls who lived on the edge of Pallet Town, Leaf, standing with her mother, the two of them talking quietly to each other. She wondered which Pokémon Leaf would be picking, whether she had one picked out specifically or not.

Serena didn't know which one she would go with herself. She wasn't really bothered by her Pokémon's type, and all three of the Pokémon they could choose from we're very good. She already had Pikahontas, of course, but this would be her first official Pokémon, which made it even more exciting. She quite liked the look of Charmander and Squirtle, but if the other newbie trainers had their sights set on them, she would happily take Bulbasuar.

Her mother walked over to her, arms folded, an exasperated look on her face.

"I've spoken to Delia, apparently Ash hasn't even woken up yet." Her heart sunk as her mom continued. "She's just waking him up now. He slept through both of his alarms and her wake up calls."

Honestly, she was a lot more surprised that she thought she would be. Ash had a reputation for over sleeping, but he was so hyped up about today, it was amazing he had fallen asleep at all. She remembered seeing his bedroom light on when she had gone to sleep though, so just how late had he stayed awake until?

"It's nine o'clock though! If he doesn't get here now what's he going to do? There won't be anymore Pokémon for him!" she exclaimed, a distraught look on her face. She really didn't want to travel without Ash. A while ago, asking Gary whether she could travel with him would still have been an option, but over the last year he had gained a strange following consisting of many of the girls from their year, who followed him everywhere. She thought they would be going with him, so there would be no chance of him letting her go too. She couldn't ask Leaf either, they had never even spoken (she couldn't actually recall ever hearing Leaf say anything), so if Ash didn't get here now, she would have to travel alone, something she really didn't want to do.

Her mom smiled in a consoling manner, seemingly reading her mind. "I'm sure you'll do amazingly well with or without Ash, Serena. You've always been so capable, I've got complete confidence in you." She lowered her head, staring at her own feet as they kicked up dust around her. Her mom didn't seem to understand, she didn't want to have to travel without him!

She wasn't allowed to continue sulking, however, as seconds later, the gate keeping them separated from the lab opened, and Professor Oak appeared, smiling widely at them. She jumped to attention and hurried over to stand by Gary and Leaf, almost hopping with anticipation. As sad as she was with the idea that Ash would be late, this was still one of the most important days of her life, and she was going to enjoy it.

"Good morning," Oak said, smiling down at them. "I'm glad to see you all here." His eyes briefly flickered to Serena, and the empty space beside her, and her insides curled again, her mood dampening. "Today you will be receiving your first Pokémon and your PokéDex, to begin your journey across the Kanto region." At the comment about their 'first Pokémon', she felt Pikahontas' PokéBall shake a bit, but it quickly stopped and focused her attention back on the Professor. "If you would like to follow me into my lab, it's time for you to meet your partners." She looked back at her mom, who have her a big thumbs up, and she beamed back, before glancing back to the direction of her house, dismayed to still see no sign of her best friend. Turning back to the lab, she followed Gary and Leaf up the stone steps and into the building, the temperature dropping as soon as she was out of the sun.

She rubbed her arms slightly, looking around the lab, that she used to be so accustomed to, with a hint of sadness, before shaking her head and reminding herself that today was a good day, and that she should be happy. The three soon-to-be trainers followed the Professor through the entrance way and into the main lab room. Serena's heartbeat increased when she saw the PokéBall Podium in the centre of the room, and her palms began to sweat a little. She caught Leaf's eyes, and didn't know whether to smile or not, but when the girl gave her a tiny smile herself, she smiled back, feeling oddly braver.

Approaching the podium, she began to run the three starters through her mind over and over, thinking about their types, abilities, and everything she had read about them from her Pokémon books. Squirtle was the Water type, Charmander the Fire type and Bulbasaur the Grass type. She was fond of all three of them, and their final evolutions, so she would wait for Gary and Leaf to pick, and take whoever they didn't choose.

Professor Oak waited for them to gather around the Podium, and then pressed a button on his computer, making three slots on the Podium open up, where three PokéBalls ascended, shining brilliantly. Her breath caught in her throat, and she wished that Ash could have been here for this moment. She smiled widely, already loving whichever Pokémon would be hers. Even though she still didn't have a goal yet, she knew that her Starter, like Pikahontas, would be an amazing ally.

"So, we have here the three Kanto Starters," Oak said. "They are Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle." He released them from their PokéBalls, and the three Pokémon smiled widely up at them. "I hope you've all thought about who you want. You can go ahead and choose now."

Leaf was the first to move, stepping forward and wordlessly picking up Bulbasuar. The silent girl beamed at the Grass type, simply exuding friendliness, and Serena felt a surge of happiness for them both. Bulbasuar looked at its new trainer excitedly, and after a loud "Bulba!" from the Pokémon, Leaf turned to Oak, smiling, and gave him a single nod. It was Gary who moved next, standing and looking between the two remaining Pokémon with his hands on his hips. Honestly, where was Ash?! This was probably his last chance.

"I've given this a lot of thought," he declared loudly. "And I've chosen to train... Squirtle! Squirtle shall be my Starter!" The Water type jumped in celebration as Gary picked him up and appraised his new Pokémon proudly. She stopped paying attention to them very quickly however, as she saw Charmander look down, a dejected expression on his face. Her heart clenched, and she quickly moved forward, smiling at it kindly.

"Charmander, do you want to be my partner?" she asked, her smile widening when the Pokémon in question looked up happily, a delighted look appearing on his face.

"Char! Char!" it cried, holding its short arms out to her. She picked it up, slightly surprised at its weight (she was used to carrying Pikahontas, who was much lighter).

She knelt down on the floor, putting her new Charmander down too, so she could talk to it properly. "So, you'll be my partner on my journey, Charmander, I'm really looking forward to it!" She reached into her bag, pulling out Pikahontas' PokéBall, releasing the Electric type so that the two Pokémon could meet for the first time. "This is Pikahontas, we've been together for a couple of years now. You two are going to be working together a lot as we travel, so I wanted you to meet now." The two Pokémon inspected each other for a few moments. They seemed quite suspicious of each other, and her heart sank a little, before they both smiled and turned back to her, with happy looks on their faces. "By the looks of it you two will get on just fine, that's good! We're supposed to be travelling with my friend Ash, but he... hasn't arrived yet." She looked back towards the door, her heart sinking again when she still didn't see him. She felt Pikahontas jump onto her shoulder, hugging up to her, and then felt a pair of arms trap around her waist. She looked back down to see Charmander hugging her as well, looking up at her with a worried look on its face. She supposed he was still grateful for being picked by her, because she wasn't really sure how many Pokémon were this affectionate just after meeting their trainers. "Thanks you two, but I'm not that worried. Ash is determined, he'll find a way to come with us." 'Never give up until the end,' she thought fondly. This seemed to satisfy them, as they both released her and went to sit in front of her again. She looked around to see Leaf leaving, her Bulbasuar back in its PokéBall. Oak walked over to her, as Gary too took his leave. He looked back at her briefly, and she smiled somewhat nervously. He smiled back, but still left without saying a word, and she remembered just how much she missed being his friend.

She didn't have much time to dwell on this though. "So your partner's Charmander then? Excellent, excellent. I'm sure you'll go far, with your Pikachu as well, of course." Pikahontas looked very pleased to have been included in the conversation. "Here we have your official PokéDex then. Make sure you look after it." The Professor handed her the small, red machine, and she held it carefully, looking it over with wonder.

"Thank you Professor," she said standing up so that she was a (slightly) closer height with Oak.

"Now Serena, you wouldn't happen to know where Ash is, would you?" She shook her head sadly. "His mom said he slept through both his alarms this morning, but I think he's on his way now- he was so excited about today, I know he'll be here!" she added quickly, catching the look on the Professor's face. "He'll be here," she repeated firmly. Oak frowned slightly, but just sighed and looked towards the door.

"If you insist dear. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my grandson off." With that he walked out, leaving Serena and her two Pokémon alone in the massive lab.

With a small shout of "Char!" from Charmander, she looked down at it with a smile.

"So then, are you a boy, or a girl? I'll need to think of a good nickname for you." She quickly realised that she wouldn't be able to understand her new friend yet however. "Are you a girl?" No response. "So you're a boy then!" He waved his arms and smiled widely at her. "Okay then little guy, I'll have a challenge nicknaming you..."

She was broken from her thoughts when she heard footsteps from the corridor, and turned around to see a slightly disgruntled-looking Professor Oak, followed by-

"Ash! There you are!" The boy in question wandered into the lab, a sheepish expression on his face, and still, amazingly, dressed in his pyjamas. "What took you so long?!" she exclaimed, standing up and stalking over to him, frowning lightly.

He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned at her uneasily. "Well, you know what I'm like Serena. Guess I just over slept." Her expression remained unchanged, unimpressed with her friend's excuse. Her two Pokémon where watching their exchange closely, she noticed.

Oak stepped I to the conversation. "If you wouldn't mind children, could we move this along?" She jumped and blushed, moving out of Ash's way to allow him past her. Serena suddenly became quite confused. It looked as though Oak was just going to let Ash go up to the Podium, when he knew full well that all three Starters were gone.

When the Professor made no move to tell Ash that all the Pokémon were gone, she spoke up herself, just as Ash began to say "I've put a lot of though into this, and-"

"Ash, wait, stop!" He turned to look at her, a confused and defensive look on his face. "Ash, all three of the Starters have been taken already," she said, a guilty feeling sinking into her stomach when Charmander peeked his head around from behind her. Ash stared at the Fire type, and then back at her. He blinked several times, as though he was just processing what she'd said, and then turned to the Professor, who shrugged.

"The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the Pokémon."

"Does that mean all the Pokémon are gone?" he asked despairingly. Her heart clenched in her chest and she bit her lip, hoping the Professor would be able to do something.

Oak stared at them both for several moments, before sighing. "Well, there is one left-"

"Professor, I'll take it!"

Oak glanced at them, for some reason his eyes hovering over Pikahontas for a few seconds longer than anyone else, before pressing a button, causing a fourth slot on the Podium to slide open, another PokéBall rising from it. She noticed a lightning bolt symbol on it and her interest rose. Would Ash be getting an Electric type?

The Professor picked it up. "Now I must warn you, there is a problem with this one."

Ash shook his head. "I have to have a Pokémon!"

"Well... in that case..." Oak trailed off, and handed Ash the PokéBall, which burst into light almost immediately. She closed her eyes against the brightness, heard Ash yelling with shock.

When she opened her eyes however, she was shocked herself. It was a Pikachu. Slightly chubbier than Pikahontas, and a male, going by his tail, but definitely a Pikachu. Beside her, Pikahontas gasped, and took a few tentative steps forward.

Ash too was surprised, it seemed. "It-it's a Pikachu!"

Oak nodded. "It is indeed Ash, I hope you'll look after it well."

Ash's face split into a grin. "Hi there Pikachu!" he exclaimed, picking up the Electric type and hugging him close to his chest. Serena quickly noticed, however, that the new-comer definitely didn't look happy, but didn't have enough time to say anything, as with a low growl of "Pi-Ka-Chu", Ash was consumed in electrical light. Pikahontas' ears flattened, and she hopped back into Serena's arms. Charmander went to stand in front of them both, as though he was preparing himself to protect them from the new Pokémon. The light quickly disappeared, leaving a very disheveled Ash and a still-angry Pikachu in its place.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Oak asked, and she looked at him in bewilderment. Was he seriously making puns right now?

"Ash, are you okay?" she cried, moving forward to check on her friend. Charmander followed, still clearly ready to fight Pikachu if he had to.

Ash shook his head and looked at her. "I'm okay Serena, how're you?" His voice was extremely croaky and one of his eyes was twitching. She looked at him flatly, gave him no response. Pikachu, she noticed, was looking rather intently at Pikahontas, who looked back with trepidation. She held her small friend slightly more tightly to her chest.

"Here are your PokéDex and PokéBalls," the Professor said, handing Ash said equipment.

"Thank you," Ash muttered, his voice still wrecked. Pikachu's cheeks sparked a little, but he was still concentrating on Pikahontas. Serena wondered whether Ash would have been shocked again if his Pokémon wasn't so distracted.

Ash shakily put Pikachu down, and the Pokémon stood stock still, not meeting anyone's gaze or even looking at them, bar the occasional glance at Pikahontas. She decided to place her friend on the ground, and after an encouraging look, Pikahontas pattered over to Pikachu, saying something to him that none of them understood.

Serena and Ash stared at each other with relief as the Professor went over to his computer. It certainly wasn't perfect, but Ash had made it, and now they would be going on their journey together. She smiled at him.

"How're you feeling?" she asked, glancing over at Pikachu.

"Sort of... smoked." She and Ash stared at each other for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. She didn't even know why she was laughing, but she just couldn't stop. A tug on her trouser leg made her look down, and she saw Charmander smiling expectantly at her. She nodded and looked back at Ash.

"Ash, this is my Charmander," she said with a smile. He looked down at the Fire type.

"Woah, he's so cool! Serena, you're so lucky!" he exclaimed. Charmander grinned happily.

"I think he was getting ready to save us all from your Pikachu back there," she said, quietly enough that the Pokémon in question didn't hear her.

"Is that true?" Ash asked Charmander, who nodded and puffed his chest out, a determined look on his face.

Serena laughed. "He's certainly a charmer, that's for sure," she said.

Ash grinned at her. "You should call him that."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on Ash, I'm not nicknaming my Pokémon after a pun on his own species." Charmander, it seemed, had other thoughts, because he jumped up and down excitedly, catching the attention of the two Pikachus as well. She sighed and smiled wearily. "You like that name, huh? ...Alright then, I suppose you're Charmer."

* * *

Present day...

The clock chimed three o'clock in the afternoon when she heard it. A distant but foreign whooshing sound that made her head snap upwards and jolting Kristoff out of his slumber on her lap. She whipped her head around to the back door of Ash's house, listening closely. Was it Dumbledore? Was he finally here?

"Something wrong Serena?" Gary asked tiredly from opposite her, where he sat with his head propped up by his hand. Ash lazily turned his head to face her from where it lay on the kitchen table.

"Didn't you hear that just now?" she asked, rising from her seat slightly.

Neither of the boys seemed to know what she was talking about, but Pikachu and Kristoff had moved closer to the door, their eyes narrowed and their movements slow and careful.

"Pikachu?" Ash muttered, sitting up. "Something wrong buddy?" No response was given from either Pokémon, but one wasn't needed; a second later, three loud knocks sounded on the door and they all jumped up, suddenly having no idea what they were supposed to do. Delia and Grace rushed into the room.

"You three go and wait in the living room," Delia said, picking Pikachu up and handing him back to a disgruntled Ash. "We'll call you though when we've discussed what we have to."

"What?" Ash exclaimed. "But mom, we want to-"

"No 'buts' Ash, we'll call you through in a minute."

"You can't be serious!" Gary exclaimed with an appalled look on his face.

"We're completely serious Gary," her mom said sternly.

Serena looked imploringly at her mom, who shook her head and pointed to the doorway to the living room. She hung her head in disappointment, seeing no point in arguing, and motioned for Kristoff to follow as she walked away. Gary and Ash followed reluctantly, both of them muttering darkly.

She collapsed onto the sofa once inside, covering her face with a cushion and groaning. She heard Pikachu and Kristoff grumbling to each other angrily as Ash and Gary went off at each other about how unfair their moms were being.

"If Gramps were here we wouldn't have to hide away like this," Gary said snidely. "I can't believe this." Professor Oak had been called out of Kanto because of some big discovery in Hoenn, that Birch, Hoenn's Professor, couldn't quite get his head around. She wasn't really sure what it was though.

"Well he's not here," she said wearily. "There's no point talking about it now." Pikahontas and Charmer let themselves out of their PokéBalls and sat with the other Pokémon- Pikachu, Kristoff and Nova- to complain in their own language apparently, judging by the looks on their faces at least.

"This blows," Ash sighed, flopping back onto the sofa beside her as Gary stood in front of the coffee table, his arms crossed in front of him, his face stormy.

She took the pillow away from her face and sat up. Someone had to be the voice of reason here. "It's not too bad guys, he is here after all, and it's not like our moms are going to be talking to him for ages or anything, is it?" They both remained stubbornly silent, but she saw Pikahontas and Nova nod at her and their debate with the other Pokémon suddenly heat up. Serena wondered what on earth they were talking about, but her thoughts were interrupted by Gary.

"Not too bad? Serena, they could be talking about anything in there! We have absolutely no idea what's being said in that room, doesn't that make you mad?"

"Yes, but it's not like they're going to stop us from talking to him is it?! They just want to make sure we're going to be okay in this completely different world. It's not like we can remember ever being there is it!" She could feel her temper flaring slightly as she and Gary began to glare at each other.

"Oh, so you're happy for your mom to say whatever she wants to this Dumbledore guy, even if it means bad new for you then?"

Ash looked between them. "Guys-"

"That's NOT what I meant and you know it! God, I know why Ash can never stand talking to you now," she hissed angrily, ignoring the small voice in her head telling her to stop.

"Guys!" Ash called, effectively interrupting them. "I don't know what's gotten into you two but you need to stop! You never argue, and now's really not the time to start, not with Dumbledore sat in the next room, especially not over something so stupid!" The room was silent for a few seconds, even the Pokémon shutting up as Ash stared at them both. "You should- you should apologise to each other, or something, I dunno..."

She sighed and looked at Gary, whose face was slightly flushed. "Sorry," she said, falling back against the back of the sofa.

Gary nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, you too."

Ash looked between them sternly and Serena cringed slightly. He never looked at her like that. She wasn't even sure why she had become so worked up with Gary, she just had.

"So, yeah, uh... stop fighting you two," Ash muttered, quickly back to his usual awkward manner.

"Yes, stop fighting," came Delia's voice from the doorway, and she turned her head so quickly that her neck cricked. "It's time for you to meet Professor Dumbledore." They stared. "Come on then, best feet forward."

* * *

**So that's chapter five. Sorry it took longer than usual, I had a case of temporary writers block! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next should be up sooner than this one.**

**Thanks again for your follows, favourites, reviews, ect. and I hope you look forward to chapter six, when everything gets going. -Lucy Jane**


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